SEATTLE YESTERDAY-ATLANTA TODAY-GUN VIOLENCE GOES ON-ANYBODY CARE?

Masterminds of columbine

On a college campus again, this time in Seattle, one dead from a gunshot, three injured. A man, not believed to be a student, used a shotgun this time to wreak havoc on a quiet community of religious students. This guy, who was finally subdued, was apparently captivated with the 1999 Columbine High School shootings. He had even traveled to the Colorado school where two students killed 15 people and wounded 21 others. You might say the inauguration of the ensuing spree of mass killings. And then today another attempt at massacre with an assault weapon this time in Atlanta. Thanks to a sharp deputy, who was shot in the leg by the gunman, the guy was killed before he could do any additional damage. He was armed with explosives, grenades and loads of ammunition. And the question arises, does anyone care?

TEA PARTY STUPIDITY

Your Tea Party in action

There are suspicions about Bowe Bergdahl’s capture by the Taliban, something the army will have to deal with. And it is a fact that there are questions about whether or not Obama's prisoner trade should have been made which the President will have to deal with. Both are items that are newsworthy and deserve attention by the media. Whether or not Obama smiles when Bergdahl's father supposedly praises Allah is not news. It is pure idiocy. Only the bottom-feeding Tea Party site, perhaps the repeatedly erroneous Fox News, would be guilty of even mentioning this sort of thing so egregious it isn't even up to sensationalism.  But the Tea Party did and is further confirmation of what a gang of morons this organization is.

 

 

 

IT'S TIME TO AMEND THE 2ND AMENDMENT

The title above guarantees that I get the attention of gun owners and their renegade bunch of gun nuts. My congressman, Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican, says that new gun laws that would interfere with the rights of these gun huggers would be unconstitutional. Like background checks that could have prevented most of the recent mass shooting. Yes, I know, it would also have to include a mental health database, something that Gosar and his GOP buddies are holding up. So, if changing the 2nd Amendment won't work, let's amend it to an interpretation that the Founding Fathers really meant. You know what it says, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed."

A one-sided Court

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has written a book, Six Amendments: How and Why we Should Change the Constitution. He was, by the way, was against the District of Columbia v. Heller outcome. He says for one thing that Heller didn't preclude the barring of assault weapons. That's a start but his revision of the 2nd is even better: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms when serving in the militia shall not be infringed." Amen. That will get many of the guns off the street.

WHY ISN'T CDC ALLOWED TO DO GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH?

Ask wacky Wayne LaPierre who heads up the National Rifle Assn. He or his minions tell us it isn't needed. But the real reason is that the horrifying statistics that would result would shatter all the bullshit coming from the NRA that protects guns under their trumped up figures. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), who gets an A+ rating from the NRA, is willing to reconsider gun control and has talked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about the gun violence research. They are ready now as they were in the 1990s until the NRA forced cuts in funding. But more than a year ago Kingston opposed this same funding when competing in a primary. Just shows you what these people will do to get reelected. Congress did approve some funding for the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), which keeps tabs on things like youth violence, child maltreatment, domestic violence, and sexual violence.

But what we need are hard figures on how many people are getting shot each day and how many of them die.

WRITING CONGRESS A WASTE OF TIME

On the recommendation of Josh Horwitz, Exec. Dir. of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence I wrote to my congressman, Paul Gosar, a Republican, to let him know I favor reasonable gun control. He let me know that the 2nd Amendment was something he revered and compared it with the right to trial by jury. It's the same old sanctimonious bullshit that's been coming out of most Republicans for years. Gosar is firmly supported by the Tea Party, which should tell you something about the man right there. But my reasoning for not wasting your time writing these eight balls is that they never answer you. I stated simply to Gosar that I couldn't see how anyone could oppose background checks to purchase a gun. I also asked him to fight for a federal database of the mentally ill to support those background checks. He didn't mention either in his five paragraph reply, only canned crap that had probably been dictated by wacky Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA).

So, Arizonans, don't vote for Paul Gosar in November. Vote for Democrat Mickel Weisser.

GUN CONTROL SUPPORTING THE RIGHT CANDIDATES

Gabby Giffords v. wacky Wayne laPierre

The gun control group Americans for Responsible Solutions, founded by former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly, will spend at least $14.5 million to elect candidates that are pro-gun control. Giffords was shot in the face by Jared Loughner in 2011, at a Tucson Safeway where six people also died. It seems to be a trend now in the fight to pass reasonable gun control laws like background checks. Former NY Mayor Mike Bloomberg pledged $50 million to challenge the NRA. And billionaire George Soros has spent $7 million to fight gun violence. If I were wacky Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Assn., I think I might start worrying. I wrote my congressman in Arizona, Rep. Paul Gosar. a Republican, and I might as well have flushed the email down the john. 2014 has been predicted to sway toward the GOP and if it doesn't we gun control advocates will know we're making progress.

BULLYING SHOULD BE A CRIME AND PARENTS ACCOUNTABLE

Most of us are in no position to judge the reason some kids and adults are bullies. It is said that bullies have an inferiority complex, thus, this is their way to feel superior. I was bullied once by a kid in grammar school who was half my size. I won but learned later that he was from a broken family and had to fight for everything he got. But I do not remember anyone in those days--or even when my kids were in school--resorting to suicide as a result of being bullied. If my kids had done it, they would have been grounded for life. Mark O'Mara, the former attorney for George Zimmerman and a family practice and criminal defense attorney, has tried to get a law passed to outlaw bullying in Florida with no success. He is trying again.

My take is that schools, where a lot of bullying takes place, should be more vigilant in monitoring episodes. When discovered, the parents should be notified at once and told to take measures to prevent it in the future. If the same child is a repeat offender, he or she should be suspended from school and the parents then held accountable. Yes, that would take a law against bullying.